Plata v. Newsom

In 2001, the Prison Law Office filed a federal class action lawsuit on behalf of every person incarcerated in CDCR who has a serious medical condition, because there were serious problems with medical care at every CDCR prison. In 2002, the federal court in the Plata case ordered CDCR to make major changes to medical care and to follow specific written policies and procedures (links to current medical care rules and policies are below). In 2005, the court found that CDCR could not improve medical care on its own, and the court appointed an independent Receiver with authority over CDCR medical care.

In 2009, a three-judge federal court determined that CDCR would be unable to provide constitutionally adequate health care so long as the prisons were grossly overcrowded and ordered CDCR to reduce crowding statewide to 137.5% of design capacity. In 2011, that order was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2014, the three-judge court ordered CDCR to implement specific population reduction measures, including increased time credits and parole consideration for elder incarcerated people and people with convictions for non-violent offenses. As a result of these and other measures, the CDCR institutions population is approximately 86,000, compared with approximately 160,000 in 2006. The CDCR institutions’ population statewide is at approximately 130% of current design capacity.

In addition, starting in 2012, CDCR undertook a project to remodel or build new medical clinics at all prisons (the project is scheduled to be completed in mid-2027). In 2013, the California Health Care Facility was opened, with more than 1,000 inpatient beds.

In 2015, the court ordered the Receiver to consider returning control of medical care at each prison back to CDCR. As of October 2026, the Receiver has done so for all except three prisons. The Receiver still has overall authority for medical care in CDCR.

CDCR self-reports compliance with certain medical care requirements via a public Dashboard. The independent Office of the Inspector General conducts and publishes periodic evaluations of medical care at each prison. We continue to monitor medical care in CDCR and advocate regarding both systemic and patient-specific issues.